(Phys.org) —It's a scenario straight out of a sci-fi horror flick. Scientists take a deadly virus that people can only catch from birds and genetically engineer it so we can give it to each other. Unfortunately, the threat ...

The current systems for the production of chemicals, fuels and materials heavily rely on the use of fossil resources. Due to the increasing concerns on climate change and other environmental problems, however, there has been ...

Evolutionary biologists at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution and Ghent University (Belgium) have found an unusual system that allows narrowing the gap in the study of evolutionary processes, ...

Enzymes called protein kinases modulate cellular activities in virtually every organism. They switch other proteins off or on by tacking on phosphate chemical groups—a process known as phosphorylation—to regulate the ...

Medical, agriculture and computer science researchers from the University of Alberta have teamed up to develop a test that will make Canadians feel safer about the meat they put on their tables. The testing device, which ...

Microfluidic devices move liquids through tiny, hair-sized pathways carved into glass slides and have distinct advantages over traditional laboratories when it comes to medical diagnostics. At these reduced scales, fluid ...

Sexual reproduction is costly to those organisms that depend on it, like humans. For starters, only half of the population can bear offspring and the other half has to work hard to make sure they're included in the future ...